PAGEV

PAGEV BRINGS "PLASTIC APPLICATIONS FOR FOOD INDUSTRY" UNDER SCRUTINY

The benefit of plastic packaging: long shelf life, less food waste

The number of people living on the verge of hunger increases, as does the amount of food that goes to waste. For instance, the annual food production of the entire sub-Saharan Africa is 230 million tons, while consumers in developed countries let 222 million tons of food go to waste every year. If the food waste in all of the United States and United Kingdom could be supplied to those in need, hunger would cease to be an issue. The protection of foods and the extension of food shelf life brings to mind the importance of packaging, which in turn emphasizes the advantages of plastic packaging. The benefits and different applications of plastics in the food industry were discussed in the 8th Industry Congress held by PAGEV this year.

The 8th Turkish Plastics Industry Congress held by the Turkish Plastics Industry Foundation (PAGEV) took place with the participation of 270 individuals from 150 companies under the theme of “Plastic Applications for Food Industry.” Discussions were mostly on the benefits of using plastics in food packaging and the technological improvements in the industry, where representatives learned more about the most recent technological advances. Held at Swissotel The Bosphorus Istanbul, the congress featured speakers from the leading companies of the industry including Farmamak, Bell Packaging, DuPont, Equipolymers, Petkim, BASF, Kalite Sistem Laboratories Group, Extrasolution and Albis Plastic, discussing the application of plastics used in food packaging.
The congress began with presentations made by participating companies. PAGEV made a change in the conference this year and held a series of panel discussions on the role of plastic packaging in our daily lives and the convenience brought by plastics.

The first panel discussion, titled “The Value of Plastic Packaging for Better Life,” was moderated by Prof. Dr. Hüseyin Yýldýrým from University of Yalova.

Speakers were Boðaziçi University faculty member Prof. Dr. Levent Kurnaz, Istanbul University faculty member Prof. Dr. Mehmet Ali Gürkaynak and Istanbul Technical University faculty member Prof. Dr. Nurseli Uyanýk.

The second panel discussion, titled “Plastic Applications for Food Industry,” was moderated by General Manager of Petkim and Chairman of Packaging Manufacturers Association (ASD) Sadettin Korkut. Speakers were Dünya daily columnist Dr. Rüþtü Bozkurt, McDonald's Turkey Quality Assurance Manager Hikmet Toksöz, SUDER Chairman Ýsmail Özdemir and PLAÞ Plastik General Manager Osman Acun.

The key benefits of plastic packaging for foodstuffs discussed during the conference were low cost, ease of transport, recyclability, conduciveness to various production technologies, lightness and transparency. The advantages of plastics in preventing food waste and extending shelf life were underscored.

Congress Chairman Ahmet Meriç said that plastic packaging had great weight in the food industry, and gave a striking example about the subject: “If only a quarter of the global food waste could be recovered, it would feed 870 million people that are on the verge of hunger.” Finally, Meriç announced that the theme of the 9th Turkish Plastics Industry Congress to be held by PAGEV in December 2014 would be “Automotive Plastics,” automotive being among the industries where plastics are used most extensively.

The main sponsor of this year's PAGEV Turkish Plastics Industry Congress was Istanbul Chemicals and Chemical Products Exporters' Association. Other sponsors of the event were Erema, Aygenteks, Ultra Polymers, Bayegan, Engel, LTS, Bell Packaging Group, Starlinger, Chem Orbis, PIE, CPRJ and Kadir Çaça Productions.